St Dogfan's Church
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Explore the Meini Bywiol Living Stones Heritage Trail 3 St Dogfan’s Church St Dogfan’s Church is sited on the southern edge of the village where it was founded as a “clas” or Celtic monastery. Llanrhaeadr was the administrative centre of Powys Fadog Province and the church would have played an important role in the province. A carved Celtic wheel cross (Cwgan stone), on a carved stone probably used as a coffin lid dating The south elevation and tower in 1872, before restoration, and from the ninth or tenth century, was found in the wall during today. The tower is all that survives of the rustic charm of the the late Victorian restoration. The church is famous as the earlier south bay, porch and vestry. The dormer window has gone place where Bishop William Morgan translated the Bible into and the windows throughout have been enlarged in the style of Welsh in 1588. Victorian decorated. St Dogfan Dogfan (or Doefan) was the son of Brychan Brycheiniog, a prince of Powys in the fifth century who became a missionary to the area around Llanrhaeadr where he led a simple life of self-denial. His name is associated with a plant called Mwyar Doewan (Dogfan’s berries) that thrives on the Berwyn mountains. According to a tradition passed down by Berwyn shepherds, the annual wage to St Dogfan was a quart of Berwyn berries. It became a custom to present the vicar of the parish with a quart of the berries on the morning of St Dogfan’s festival day (July 13th). Whoever got there first was let off paying their tithe for a year! Victorian restoration The building By 1872, all the windows, apart from the east window of Originally the church was a long single chamber. The two the north bay had been removed in a restoration, and the side bays were probably added in the fourteenth century. pulpit was moved to its current position. The south bay was The arcade arches were remodelled during the 1880’s extended and a porch was added to the north elevation. restoration. The date of the rough base of the tower is Internal alterations included raising the floor of the chancel, unknown; the current tower dates from the early eighteenth removal of the box pews, west gallery and hearse house, century and survived later alterations. and the construction of a partition between the tower base and nave. A new lectern, desk and pulpit were installed. The west porch is panelled with sections of the box pews, some of which bear coats of arms. ommunity e C We th lc y o b m d e e t S r c o h e p m p u e S C l e f o n d o e g n i u r g m an Cy y so Cynllun Croe Explore the Meini Bywiol Living Stones Heritage Trail 3 St Dogfan’s Church Interior features Pulpit: The timber pulpit was originally fixed to the The rear pew on the north elevation is 30 feet long nearby pillar and was and thought to be the longest in Montgomeryshire! moved and lowered to its current position before According to local tradition, the north aisle roof was thatched. 1872. It incorporates When the roof was repaired, the timber beam supporting two small panels from the roof was reused to construct a gallery at the west end an earlier pulpit. The of the nave (the main body of the church). This gallery was tradition is that these removed around 1880. panels date from a pulpit used by William Morgan, but they are in the style of The Cwgan stone eighteenth century inlaid was found in the church panels, and so may not during the 1850’s be Tudor after all! restoration. It is thought to date from the ninth century and was then Organ: the fine three decorated at a later date manual and pedal pipe as a covering for a tomb organ by Walter James in the church, possibly for Bird & Son of Birmingham Cwgan, son of Ethelstan was installed in 1906 and (a prince of Powys) who dedicated to the memory died in the eleventh of William Morgan. century. The Wagon roof ceiling above the chancel is thought Font: the most striking to date from the fifteenth century. feature of the octagonal font is the date 1663, surrounded by three sets of initials. ‘RIV’ below the date are most likely to be those of Richard Jervis, vicar from 1661- 1675. The initials either side are probably the churchwardens. The stone is a local grey stone. The base on which it stands is likely to be the base of an earlier font destroyed during the Commonwealth, a Welsh Bible: A hand printed decade earlier. copy of the Bible as translated by William Morgan in 1558 is on loan to St Dogfan’s Church from the University Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. Explore the Meini Bywiol Living Stones Heritage Trail 3 St Dogfan’s Church The people: William Morgan William Morgan was born The title page of William Morgan’s Welsh translation of the Bible in at Ty Mawr Wybrnant, 1588 is shown below. Verses from 2 Timothy 3, 14 & 15 are quoted: near Betws-y-Coed and educated at St John’s College, Remind them of this, and Cambridge. He was vicar of warn them before God, that Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant they are to avoid wrangling and Llanarmon Mynydd Mawr over words, which does no between 1578 and 1595, and good but only ruins those during this period he was who are listening. Do your also rector of Llanfyllin and Pennant Melangell. He became best to present yourself to Bishop of Llandaff in 1601, and Bishop of St Asaph until his God as one approved by death in 1604. him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly Translating the Bible into Welsh at this critical time is credited explaining the word of truth. as saving the language. Welsh was being fostered by others, such as the Bards, but it was considered a hindrance by some Beneath this it reads: Welsh gentry, who saw the language as culturally inferior ‘Imprinted at London by and a political disadvantage. the Deputies of Christopher Barker, printer to the Queen’s In 1585 Gruffydd Robert published ‘Y Drych Cristnogol’ most excellent Majesty, 1588’ (The Christian Mirror), and blamed the Welsh gentry for not valuing their language, pretending they had forgotten it, allowing it to be “contaminated by the English language”. William Worthington The translation of such an authoritative book as the Bible in to Welsh, restored the dignity and status of the language. In William Worthington was vicar of St Dogfan’s from 1747 to his foreword to Silas Evans’ History of the Parish Llanrhaeadr- 1778 and a Canon of St Asaph and York. He was a popular ym-Mochnant, W.T. Havard, Bishop of St Asaph describes and generous vicar and is responsible for the road from the Morgan’s translation as “a means of rescuing the soul of village to the waterfall. He is buried under the chancel of this Wales”. church. William Morgan’s parishioners were less impressed during the process, and complained that the translation work Walter Davies (Gwallter Mechain) was causing him to neglect them. As a result, Morgan had to appear before the Archbishop of Canterbury who, after Walter Davies was born in Llanfechain and left school at the questioning him, was so impressed that he made him his age of 12 to be an apprentice cooper. His interest in Welsh own chaplain and gave him the money and support he poetry and language gained him the support of some needed to finish the translation! prominent Welshmen and in 1790 he published his Treatise on Freedom. The publication of this provided him with the means to study at Oxford. He became a famous poet and historian of Welsh industry, and an Eisteddfod adjudicator. He was vicar of St Dogfan’s from 1837 until his death in 1849. He is buried in the south side of the churchyard. Explore the Meini Bywiol Living Stones Heritage Trail 3 St Dogfan’s Church Churchyard The churchyard covers 2½ acres and is an irregular shape, The churchyard supports a wide variety of wild flowers from suggesting it has been added to over the years. It contains spring to autumn. The grass is not mown in some areas until the graves of five previous vicars of the parish, the most after the flowers set seed. famous being Gwallter Mechain (Rev’d Walter Davies). There are many other items of significance in St Dogfan’s At one time there were two lychgates, at the eastern and Church, and information about these is readily available western entrances to the churchyard. The main entrance on the guide sheets fixed to various parts of the church. to the church is now by a more recent lychgate on the Further information about the above characters, and others north side, dating from 1954, on which memorials to associated with the church and the village can be found in William Morgan are fixed, dating from 1988 and 2004. Silas Evans’ History of the Parish of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochant. Images from St Dogfan’s Church Reredos Bishop’s Chair The Meini Bywiol Living Stones Heritage trail consists of 15 churches and chapels in north Montgomeryshire. See the trail leaflet and the website for information about the other sites on the trailwww.living-stones.info .